Efficient criminal rehabilitation programs

While most people might not really be aware of this, the fact is that most criminals that go through the justice system, after finishing their sentences, end up relapsing, and that very few people change the way they think and start living normal lives. This goes to show not that people donít change, but that the rehabilitation programs that are run in jails and prisons are not enough. There is an obvious need for alternative sentencing. Private institutions that undergo rehabilitation programs can prove to be the solution that we are all waiting for, and the chance that people who have made wrong choices in the past need, so that we may all enjoy a better future, a better tomorrow.
We all know that the punitive justice system cannot bring any positive results. In fact, the numbers show that the current prison system in the United States can only help less than 30% of the people that go through it get rehabilitated. Indeed, the recidivism rate of people that have been in prison is taken to be over 70%. This number is, if anything, shocking. If we had a company and only 30% of the products that we created were any good, then we certainly would consider that company to be a complete failure, and we would expect it to go bankrupt in less time than it took to create it. These numbers show us not only that the current justice system isnít working, but that itís a complete failure. The criminal rehabilitation programs are poorly designed, and the fact that some prisoners have to be released early because the prisons are overcrowded by 30% doesnít make it any better. Alternative sentencing can prove to be the solution to these problems.
Itís hard to see how bringing the offenders together under the same roof can help to rehabilitate them. If anything, what this does is the exact opposite. Instead of trying to integrate criminals into a community that can help and support them, having a positive influence over them, the current prison system only works in bringing criminals together so that they can negatively influence each other. Itís not hard to see why violent criminals should be looked up, even though work should be done in trying to rehabilitate them as well. On the other hand, the reasons for keeping non-violent criminals locked up instead of trying to rehabilitate them through diversion programs are not that obvious. More efficient criminal rehabilitation programs must be undertaken, and alternative sentencing should be pursued in the case of non-violent criminals.
There arenít that many private institutions that run criminal rehabilitation programs in the world. The fact is that there is only one in the United States, and therefore people that are seeking alternative sentencing donít have that many options. Hopefully, as more proof of the positive results that these types of institutions bring comes to light there will be more choices available for those that have committed crimes in the past but want to have a second chance at being rehabilitated and living a normal life.